With roots in Al Merrick’s trusted and proven high-performance shortboard designs, the Channel Islands Fever surfboard can still handle more average conditions.
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Looking for Channel Islands Surfboards in Australia? Talk to the good people at Onboard Industries

Surfboard Volume Debunked:
What it is. What it isn't. How To Get it Right?
The most commonly asked questions here are about Surfboard Volume and there is a lot of misunderstanding about this concept. This article aims to dispel some myths about

By Jay Recinto of Warm Winds Surf Shop
With the sustainable surf movement gaining steam, we can take this chance to make a difference – a difference that can do wonders for the sport of surfing that we love and for Mother Nature as

Tired of white boards? Want some awesome DIY surfboard art? This is a short tutorial on How To Give Your Board a Cool Custom Spray in 10 minutes from home.

THE PROCESS

1) Pick up your spray paint colours of choice, a sponge (e.g., car wash sponge) and a plastic bag to protect your hand while you paint
2) Decide on a pattern for your spray
3) Apply the spray paint to the sponge and apply to the board evenly
4) Allow 24 hours for the paint to fully dry
5) Use a very light grit wet/dry sand paper to smooth the finish
6) Add a tailpad (if that’s your thing) and go!

7) From YouTube fan, Kalem: ‘I would spray the whole board over with a clear acrylic spray paint with a few coats then lightly sand back with 1200 grade sandpaper, stops the paint scratching and fading over time’ – Thanks Kalem!

SURFBOARD ART TUTORIAL

Hey, I’m Craig, and for Compare Surfboards today we’re going to do a little tutorial on How to Give Your Surfboard a Cool Custom Spray. I’ve been putting a few reviews up lately and there has been a lot of questions on the YouTube videos about how I paint these boards. We said we’d do something, so I’m just going to run through it.

“It’s really simple and quite effective.”

I’m not a huge fan of plain white boards, so we’ll just run through what we do.

Step 1 – Materials, Pick Your Colours

Obviously you’re going to need spray paint. Today I’m going to pick fluoro green and black. I don’t why. I’ve just never used those colors before, or fluoro green anyway. I use a sponge so it’s kind of like a tint type effect.

I spray the sponge and then rub the paint down. I put a garbage bag over my hand because you’re spraying the paint directly at the sponge which is in your hand and you don’t really want a hand covered in paint.

What You’ll Need

Step 2 – Pick Your Spray Pattern

Today I’m going to do one color in one half, top and bottom, the second colour on the rear end – top and bottom – and that’s it.

Step 3 – Prep the Board (Optional)

Today this is a clean, new board, so it doesn’t really need much prep. Maybe just wipe off any sand dust because it has a light finish. If you are using a board that has had wax on it or has had a towel pad, definitely clean the wax off. Put the board out in the sun, get the wax off.

Use turpentine or mentholated spirits to get the wax and any grease or anything that’s on the board off so you have a clean surface. Even if you can get a really light wet-and-dry like a 1,200 grit sandpaper, just wet and dry just to get all the stuff so the paint does apply to the board and does stick to it and doesn’t just rub off.

Step 4 – Apply the Spray Paint to the Sponge and Apply to the Board Evenly

What I’ve got here is a normal sponge that you wash your car with. They’re like $2 and I’ve got some scissors to cut it up. That’s what I use to apply the paint. I spray the paint to the sponge and just rub it along.

Spray the Sponge

Here are the paints that I’m using, just normal spray paint from the hardware store. Only cost a few bucks. It’s pretty simple. Here’s the two colors that we’re using today and here’s the sponge for applying the paint. Hopefully this all works because we’re actually doing this on camera. I’m just going to spray the sponge and then slowly apply down to where I want it which will be about halfway.

Apply the Sprayed Sponge to the Board

I’m going to do a black nose, green tail and just put the same on the reverse. I’ve got a plastic bag on my hand because I don’t want a hand covered in spray paint.

Paint on the Hand – Craig Not Heeding His Own Advice

We’ll go through now. Cool. I’m going to have to go over that in green. I went too far down. Now I’ve done the first half. I’m going to flip it over and do the bottom the same and then I guess it’s kind of a four-stage process. It’ll be one, two, three, four and then it’s kind of finished. Now we’ve flipped it over. It’ll be the same process for the bottom.

I just made a little bit of a marker across so I can match where the halfway mark is or whatever mark I want to go to, same as the top.

Marking the Midpoint

I just put a light kind of edge of paint across there. Now I’ve finished the black on the top and the bottom. I’m going to start with the green on the top of the board on the bottom half. The neon paints can be a bit funny, actually. We’ll do the final bit now which is the bottom half of the bottom of the board and then it is all done. That is the top and bottom all done. That’s all you do with the paint.

Step 5 – Let the Paint Set for 24 Hours

Now I would leave the board for like around 24 hours just to let the paint really adhere to the board and dry completely.

Let It Dry

Step 6 – Smooth the Finish

Because it gives a bit of a not 100% smooth finish, get like a 1,200 grit wet-and-dry sandpaper with lots of water and just give it a really really light wet-and-dry sand. All you want to do is just take that tiny bit of edge, that not smooth edge off the paint because this is an imperfect process. This doesn’t give you that perfect smooth finish, so that wet and dry will just achieve that. Once that’s done it’s pretty much finished and then you’re ready to put a towel pad on and the board’s ready to go. Thanks for watching.

My name is Benny and I have a surfboard problem.
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Something about BENNY

Hi, I’m Benny! Welcome to Compare Surfboards and welcome to the family!

Like many of you, I'm a regular, everyday surfer but I LOVE IT! Struggling to find real, experienced based info. about surfboards and surf products, I started Compare Surfboards to help cut through the marketing hype and pro-surfer-wannabe-aspiration that leads many of us to buy and ride the wrong equipment. We ride them, we review them, we help you understand how they will actually work for you in the water. And, we want your voice in the conversation.

Join us on our journey of riding and reporting on the best boards we can find from the best shapers (both big name and underground) on the planet.